Trojans are sidestepping injuries

Mark Saxon covers the St. Louis Cardinals for ESPN.com. He served as the Dodgers team reporter for ESPNLosAngeles.com. through the 2015 season. He spent six years at the Orange County Register, and began his career at the Oakland Tribune, where he started an 11-year journey covering Major League Baseball. He has also covered colleges, including USC football and UCLA basketball.

PULLMAN, WASH. _ The phrase USC's football team kept using after Saturday's tidy 50-16 win over Washington State was that they're in a "good position."

Essentially, they have avoided two things through the first four relatively easy games on their schedule: injuries and upset losses. Now 4-0, they're also unusually healthy.

Three defensive ends, Armond Armstead, Nick Perry and Wes Horton, are the only injury concerns. Armstead didn't play Saturday because of a shoulder injury, but coach Lane Kiffin said it's likely he'll be ready to go against Washington next week. Perry played sparingly Saturday, limping around on a sprained ankle, and actually managed to get a sack.

An offensive lineman stepped on Horton's back late in the third quarter and he didn't return, but it was being classified as a bruise.

"Our goal has always been to get to this point of the season, go back home for our conference home opener 4-0 and healthy, knowing who we are as a team," Kiffin said.